Sunday, January 8, 2012

I was looking back at my New Years Cleanse post and realized it was lots of information about things I won't do. Here is some information on things I am doing:

I will focus on eating as many fruits and veggies as I can get into my face. I already ate most of my two week CSA package...in one week. I took a trip to the farmer's market yesterday and bought more seasonal produce... cauliflower, carrots, radishes, turnips, I found some decent tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, etc.

I will focus on drinking one green drink per day and eating at least one big salad for a meal per day.

I will drink hot water with lemon every morning. It's such a great way to start your digestive functions moving, and it helps to clear out your liver.

I will drink as much herbal tea as I want. I am not cutting green tea... I am not addicted to caffeine and don't have to worry about coffee, and I love my green tea. Also, it has so many benefits...to me, it out weighs the caffeine issue. Most cleanses recommend cutting caffeine all together, but I am not getting rid of my green tea.

After my first few days, I will reincorporate whole grains. I am giving my body a break from those for a few days...but am definitely craving them!

I am also eating lots of legumes...chickpeas, aduki beans, lentils...any kind of legume I can find.

I am focusing on eating as many seeds and nuts (in moderation) as I can. Variety is the spice of life...and there are so many seeds and nuts that are good for you out there...Chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds....the list goes on and on.

I finally am starting to feel better, so I went to yoga for the first time in three weeks yesterday. It was AWESOME! I am super sore today, but in a good way.

Today I am going for a hike and another yoga class. Tomorrow I am getting back to running (the last time I ran was in NYC on December 26th.

I already can feel my body cleansing. Cutting out dairy and wheat alone make a big difference, as does cutting out alcohol. I feel a little drained of energy, but not horrible. I have been sleeping really poorly ever since I got sick, so I am hoping this cleanse will help reset my internal clock.

Due to the aforementioned sunshine, I have been slow to start on my list of projects, but I have been able to do a few things, like cleaning up my computer and going through a bunch of old photos. I also have cleaned out my work and personal file cabinets and cleaned out and organized my Christmas decorations. These are all little steps towards "detoxing" my house, office, etc.

Here is some more information on the benefits of detoxing your body. Of course, I take this as a time to "detox" everything...my house, computer, etc.

#1 Get out of debt, save money, make a certain (private) amount of money.
#2 Blog when you are inspired to. Blog when you have a trip to talk about, a recipe to share, an inspiring story to pass on. Don't feel guilty when you don't blog. You have a busy life!
#3 Eat a vegan diet 80% of the time. Drink more green juice and more green smoothies.
#4 Read 25 books. (I am keeping it the same as last year because there are a couple of really long books I want to read this year...like Anna Karina and a few other behemoths)
#5 Do a half marathon!
#6 Do an Olympic distance triathlon!
#7 Learn to listen better. If you do that, you won't interrupt people so much.
#8 Find time to meditate and self reflect. A calm mind=a calm body and soul. (Everyone, including my doctor, have been spouting, "MEDITATE!"...I am really going to make an effort to meditate for a few minutes a day.)
#9 Travel to a place new that you have never been to before.
#10 Learn to stop judging yourself. Others see you as you see yourself.
#11 Find your way back to photography...you have a nice new camera! Thanks Dad!
#12 Learn to say "no". You don't need to go on every trip, to every party, every outing, etc. Take time for yourself!
#13 Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals for work, working out, and life in general. Complete them each time. (Really, this is another way of talking about my to-do lists. I make the lists, but they are disorganized and I don't always complete them. Every day at the end of my work day, I will make a to-do list for the next day. Every weekend, on Sunday, I will make a to-do list for the week.)

Well, that's it, I really just wanted to add a few things. I have a big list this year...here's to accomplishing all of this and more!

Have you heard about the big swell hitting San Diego right now? Waves were supposed to be 10-15 feet. Every surfer and wannabee surfer in San Diego County hit the waves. There were lots of problems with inexperience people hitting the surf...our lifeguards and emergency response patrols have been working some major overtime with all the accidents. I live about 2 miles from the beach and have heard sirens going non stop the past few days. The waves are definitely bigger than we normally get in San Diego and the weather has been 70-72 degrees. It's super pretty and I am sure people in colder climates hate me for saying this, but....isn't it supposed to be winter? I want to wear sweaters and scarves and eat soup and read with a cup of tea. It's hard to stay inside and tackle goals while the sun is shining! I have been enjoying the sun...going for short walks...and taking photos of the PACKED surf. It's really like summer at the beach communities...all the parking spots are full, in fact, people are double parked in some places. It's INSANE. But something neat to look at in January:

Looks like a painting...

Catching a ride!

OK...I guess this could be a 15 foot wave?

San Diego Sunshine

Super popular surf spot "Swami's" in Encinitas...it's always packed, but not like this!

Looking South

Looking North

I hope you have sunshine (or rain...if you want it like me!) where ever you are! Enjoy your weekend.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Each year I like to take the first month and cleanse away the previous year, the holidays, and just start the year off right. This will be like any other year! As soon as I get over being sick and empty my fridge of some cheese and left over holiday deserts that I don't want to waste, I will start the 30 day cleanse. It will look like this:

1. No Dairy (I will still eat eggs and fish in moderation)
2. No refined sugars or flours.
3. No alcohol.
4. No processed food.
5. Yoga 6 times a week.
6. Run 4 times a week. Including one long training run a week.
7. Scrub my house from top to bottom. Clean carpets, windows, clean doors, floor boards, remove books from bookshelves and clean and reorganize them, clean out and reorganize kitchen, clean out garage, clean up plants on deck, get rid of anything I don't need. Make the house spotless.
8. Organize all of my work paper work. (This is all pretty organized as it is, but I just want to fine tune.)
9. Drink as much green juice as possible...including doing a 3 day juice cleanse.
10. Pamper yourself as much as possible: give your self facial masks, at home spa treatments, etc.
11. Get working on those New Years Goals!

I LOVE when I do this cleanse every year. My skin becomes perfect...my sleep is divine, I loose weight, I work more, I get super organized, my house gets super clean, and everything just feels calm. Last year I also did one during the summer to recharge...I think I will do that again this year.

I will keep you all updated....and hope I feel better soon so I can start!

I am sorry for my absence. The past two months have been hectic to say the least. I did two 10ks, went to New York, went to Maui, and had house guests. I also have been sick three times (!!!!) once with a cold, once with a weird food poisoning that lasted for over a week, and now, since Thursday, sick with a combo virus / bacterial issue that is basically like a bad cold and flu combined! Not too mention, holiday parties, friends, and work has been super busy too. So between all of that activity...I didn't really have time to blog. Over the first few months of the New Year I plan to blog about all of the vacations I took this year as well as all of the races that I did.

As we march into the New Year I have reflected on my goals for the year, and truly could not be more proud of myself. I don't set resolutions because they sound so contrived. Goals are much more fitting for me, and the beginning of the year is a good time for me to set them. There were some things last year (mainly money focused) that were beyond my control that I didn't complete, but for the most part, I surpassed my goals! What a feeling!

There were lots of personal relationship changes in my life in 2011, all of which were really painful. Some of those changes were for the better and made me learn and grow, some of those changes just plain hurt and I am still bewildered by. Changes are a part of life, and as I have said before, without change, we never grow.

Let's reflect:

Here is my post from that time: http://platosplate.blogspot.com/2011/01/farewell-2010.html (Lots of this had to do with Aaron who we all know is not in my life anymore, but lots of these things apply to me and me only. Strangely enough, I always write my goals on a pretty piece of paper to put on my medicine cabinet and look at every morning. When I transcribed the goals from this blog to the paper, I took out anything to do with Aaron and made them all about me....just as personal goals should be.)

Here were my goals for 2011 and my results below each one. #1 Get out of debt, save a certain amount, and make a certain amount. (Those amounts are private...ahem).I did not meet my financial goals this year. The economy sucks. But, for having a new business in a general recession, I did not do too shabby. I pay my mortgage and bills and can afford vacations and shopping, etc.#2 Visit my sister in NYC, and take a trip to Seattle or Portland and perhaps Texas to visit my step dad.Well, I visited my sister in NYC twice. I did not make it to the Northwest or Texas, but I went to Maui twice, took a weekend trip to Julian, and went to San Francisco 2 times. Although I didn't get to some of the destinations I wanted to, I would say I traveled QUITE a bit. #3 Blog once a week.Well, I didn't quite meet this one either. But I didn't do too bad. I think I blogged about 35 times, which is almost every week. I just don't think it's realistic for me to blog once a week. #4 Eat a wholesome, healthy, vegan diet 80% of the time, and it's ok if 20% of the time I eat fish or dairy products.I definitely stuck to this one. It might have been more like 75/25% but I did great in my book.#5 Read 25 books.I read 26! Take that! I am REALLY proud of this one. Reading enriches my life in so many ways, and I just couldn't be prouder that I backed away from the TV and read, a lot.#6 Run a 10k! (Ahh! Did I really just put that out into the world?)Not only did I do a 10k, I did 2 10ks! And I did a 5k....and I did THREE SPRINT TRIATHLONS!!! This is the one I am most proud of. I am actually getting a bit teary eyed thinking about it. There is nothing you can't do when you put your mind to it. #7 STOP INTERRUPTING PEOPLE. It's super annoying. Well, I think I made some headway (I guess I need to ask other people about their opinion on this) but it will continue to be a goal of mine moving into the New Year.#8 Make my focus on being active: Do yoga, run, bike, walk, just be more fit overall.Umm...see #6. Not only did I run, bike and yoga'd my brains out...I also swam...and sometimes did all 4 on one day! WHO AM I???? Not only did I complete all those races, I made some great friends in the process, joined the San Diego Triathlon Club...and lost over 20 pounds. I also hiked quite a bit which is fabulous. I still can't tell ya'll how great it feels.#9 Simplify. Get rid of more stuff. No one needs 80 pairs of shoes.This is another goal I KILLED. My closet looks like a photograph. Every drawer is organized. I took about 10 car loads of stuff to the Goodwill to donate. BOO-YA. The only problem is I replaced lots of clothes...see #8...I lost over 20 pounds! I had to buy a new wardrobe. But, I might have gone a bit overboard...and this did not help with goal #1. #10 Continue to grow artistically. More photography and other art forms.This is one that I did not touch. I lost interest in photography because my camera sucked, and with all the training I did, I really didn't have much time to do art work. Back on the list it goes!

All in all, a great year. Moving on to 2012:#1 Get out of debt, save money, make a certain (private) amount of money.#2 Blog when you are inspired to. Blog when you have a trip to talk about, a recipe to share, an inspiring story to pass on. Don't feel guilty when you don't blog. You have a busy life!#3 Eat a vegan diet 80% of the time. Drink more green juice and more green smoothies.#4 Read 25 books. (I am keeping it the same as last year because there are a couple of really long books I want to read this year...like Anna Karina and a few other behemoths)#5 Do a half marathon! #6 Do an Olympic distance triathlon!#7 Learn to listen better. If you do that, you won't interrupt people so much.#8 Find time to meditate and self reflect. A calm mind=a calm body and soul.#9 Travel to a place new that you have never been to before.#10 Learn to stop judging yourself. Others see you as you see yourself.#11 Find your way back to photography...you have a nice new camera! Thanks Dad!

Lots of my goals this year are more philosophical. One thing I did not do well in 2011 was "stop to smell the roses". I was running from here to there (figuratively and literally) and rarely found time to sit down. I need to take time for self reflection. That might help prevent me from getting sick! I was sick more times than I could count this past year, way more than ever before. Not ok. Being healthy is much more fun!

About Me

I am a 30-ish year old living in San Diego. I love cooking, yoga, walking, travel, the beach, challenging myself, doggies, and enjoying life. I studied philosophy at SDSU and continue to be curious about the philosophy of life, cooking, and yoga....I hope I can share some of my joy with you and get you into the kitchen, onto your yoga mat, and thinking about the sweet things in life.
Also, I have started to lean towards a plant based diet for many reasons: the first being my concerns about agriculutre on our environment, the second being cruelty to animals (I love animals...especially my dog Peroni), and the third being the damaging effect of animal based diets on the human body. I hope I can encourage you to eat more plant based foods and seek out information on the subject.
Now get cooking and eat more tofu!